The late ’60s saw an increase in student dissent toward military action both on and off campus, fueled in a large part by the conflict in Vietnam. The nearly universal support that student-soldiers enjoyed during the two World Wars was a distant memory on U.S. campuses, and the draft became a topic of huge debate among college-age Americans. While there was still support for military on campus, the loudest voices belonged to the opposition. The Cincinnati chapter of “Students for a Democratic Society,” which formed independently in September 1966, staged demonstrations in the form of silent sit-ins to protest the war in Vietnam, the draft, and the presence of ROTC on campus. The SDS view of military presence was far from universal however, and some students staged counter-protests to show troops overseas that Americans did appreciate their efforts.

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Creative draft dodging
This plea appeared in the February 17, 1966 issue of the News Record, encouraging women to save their men by putting themselves in the lower half of the class.

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SDS Protest, May 20, 1969

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Vietnam War Memorial, 1989
The ROTC staged this live memorial in 1989, “Lest we Forget” the men who died protecting liberty in Vietnam as well as MIA and POW soldiers.